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Trans Pennine

"Highways England has said there is a “strong strategic case” to build the TransPennine Tunnel but added that it will take 20 to 25 years to build.

Highways England North-west regional director Alan Shepherd said he hoped the chancellor would give the green light to the project in the Autumn Statement.

He told Construction News thatthe project could be the world’s longest tunnel and Europe’s largest civil engineering project in the past 30 years.

Five routes were shortlisted for the proposed £6bn tunnel, which will link Manchester to Sheffield, in August this year.

Asked whether the UK had the correct skillset to deliver a major tunnelling project of this scale, Mr Shepherd said HS2’s bidders and procurement were “a good analogy” for how the process would work.

He said Highways England would look at larger contractors to deliver the project in tandem with international firms, citing current Northern delivery partners Kier and a Balfour Beatty / Mott MacDonald joint venture – “if we need to get tunnellers in from Norway, we can do that”, he added.

The panel agreed that east-west connectivity was vital for the Northern Powerhouse agenda, with a strong case for HS3.

Mr Marshall said projects like the Ordsall Chord,which will link Manchester's Victoria and Picalilly stations, would “lay the groundwork” for better connectivity across the region.

He added that increased connectivity would make the North’s core cities even more attractive to international funders, and added that government support for schemes had helped his firm “to go to the Far East with a clear message” for investors.

Ms Garnell said investment in Liverpool’s port would be just the start of the city’s investment in its infrastructure, with upcoming investments including a new cruise liner terminal to boost tourism in the city."

She added that the city is looking to secure additional government funding in the Autumn Statement for a major overhaul of its public realm, following on from an earlier £40m investment."

"HS2 should be renamed the Grand Union Railway as the controversial project is not actually about speed, the minister in charge has said.

Andrew Jones MP, the transport minister, admitted the line is more about boosting capacity than high speed because it is intended to bring communities together.

Speaking at an event at Conservative party conference in Birmingham Mr Jones said: "I probably wouldn't have branded it about speed but it is what it is. Speed isn't the main thing.

"Yes the speed message will come across ... but actually what it will do also is free up more capacity for more capacity and more freight."

He added: "Ultimately it is about making our country more connected ... How about [calling it] the Grand Union Railway or something like that? That's ultimately what it's going to do, to bring parts of our country together."

The controversial high speed rail link has been criticised because of the high costs associated with building it and the impact on people living close to the route...

"They said we need the speed because people don't work on trains so they need the extra time but that's absurd."

He added that the argument for extra capacity "doesn't stand up" either because the line "misses out huge swathes of the country and bypasses large areas".

"We even have the absurd situation where HS2 is proposed to go under East Midlands airport in a tunnel costing £500million but it won't be stopping there."

Making the case for the high speed link during the coalition Government Patrick McLoughlin, the former transport secretary, said HS2 would increase capacity on the overcrowded West Coast mainline and make it easier for commuters to live outside London but work in the capital. "

"Lord Wolfson, the chief executive of Next, says the decline in the pound "inevitably" means there will be some inflation in the UK next year.

"Speaking at the launch of the Wolfson Prize, which is looking at ways to solve the problem of the UK's overcrowded roads, he told the BBC's economics editor Kamal Ahmed the key thing was to come up with ways to counter inflation."

PS : Sheffield is not East Yorkshire .... tis South. East meets West ... most unlikely. Tis a Rose thing.

"Economist Lord Jim O’Neill and John Cridland, former director general of the CBI and current chair of Transport for the North (TfN), join a host of senior business and civic leaders from across the north already on the board, with the group meeting for the first time this week...."

"While Steve Gillingham, director of the north at Mace, pointed out that now is the time for the north to unite. He said: “The formation of the NPP comes at a critical time. Following the vote to leave the EU it is now more important than ever that the private and public sector come together with one voice to provide the expertise and long-term commitment needed to create an economic powerhouse in the north.

"As the new government prepares to set out its vision of an industrial strategy which promotes growth across the whole of the UK, it is vitally important that we in the north make our voices heard to ensure the Northern Powerhouse becomes a reality."

Who gives a hoot ... when the final decisions are being made in London?

KM8: "Tuesday 22 November. If the judge at the Royal Courts of Justice gives permission for the judicial review, the full hearing will go ahead immediately and is likely to continue on Wednesday 23 November"

"Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “It won’t escape people’s notice that this commitment to London today comes just days after the transport secretary cancelled electrification schemes all over the country...."

"Last week the government snuck out dozens of announcements on the final day before summer recess in a bid to bury bad news, including the cancellation of plans to make the railway network faster, greener and more reliable by electrifying lines..."

Andy McDonald is the shadow transport secretary and Labour MP for Middlesborough

"Steve Piper from the trust doesn’t think the cats will threaten sheep: “It doesn’t matter that sheep are slower than a deer or an ‘easy meal’, in every real-world example, lynx show virtually no interest in killing sheep.”